Effects, location, craftsmanship come together for 'Iron Man 3'

Published: Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 7:28 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 7:28 p.m.

It is bravado and branding, along with convincing explosions, that make Marvel such a huge success.

If you watch “Iron Man 3” carefully, it's unlikely you will be able to notice juxtapositions between the ports of Wilmington and Miami, or that a “bombing” at the TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's) wasn't shot in California.

Attention to detail is vital because, as with the studio's previous ventures, including 2012's “Avengers,” eagle eyes will be out there trying to spot glitches, poor craftsmanship and plot holes.

That's a lot of pressure.

“It was all very secretive,” said Robert Hoelen, a best boy grip on the film. “In the morning we got our job (assignments) for the day, and at the end of the day we turned them in and they shredded them. We tried to get a script, but we couldn't. It was like working in the Pentagon.”

The latest chapter in the super saga that started the entire Disney-Marvel universe opens this weekend. It is directed by Shane Black and features Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Ben Kingsley as the tech-savy terrorist The Mandarin.

And, oddly enough for a summer blockbuster, the screenplay includes a few twists and turns and one genuine surprise, so all the secrecy isn't for naught, said a local construction foreman on the film, Tom Jones.

“Their main possession is their intellectual property, so they keep a pretty tight wrap on what information goes out and who gets it,” he said. “There were security groups, and they checked you coming in every day and made sure you had a badge. There wasn't any pedestrian traffic.”

Because of Marvel's policies and the non-disclosure agreements employees were required to sign, stories from the set are at a premium.

Despite the secrecy, crew members say Downey was often matter-of-fact but friendly on set. Some also noted the actor's quirky habits – he apparently required crystals to be taped to all the stages to help with his “addictions,” Hoelen said.

“It was his (Downey's) place,” he said, “but he was very approachable.”

‘There's going to be destruction'

The quest for authenticity began with the perfect filming location. The Port City had it all: EUE/Screen Gems Studios' stage 10, experienced crews, and the state's generous film incentives, N.C. Film Office director Aaron Syrett said.

“We had the script, and we would break it down by sets. There was a lot of scouting that went on trying to find if we could find a location for the script,” said Alan Hook, of Wilmington, who worked as an art director. “A lot of the things weren't possible to do that way because the movie takes place all over the country, so not all of the locations here naturally worked for that.”

One of the film's most spectacular set pieces – Tony Stark's Malibu mansion – looked like the real deal. The home's exterior was built at the former National Gypsum plant on Sunnyvale Drive, while rooms were constructed on stages at Screen Gems.

“We went and looked at Gypsum – it's just a matter of space primarily, and what the infrastructure is like,” Jones said. “Power was a big need for us, lighting, and ease of transportation in and out. For us, it was a huge open space where we could build set after set after set and do everything under one roof.”

The interior was just so, too, largely because audiences were introduced to the home in the previous films and because its contents were those a braggadocios billionaire with a touch of OCD would own. Master Craftsmen Services, a furniture restoration company at 97 Heathcliff Road in Wilmington, created 10 different set pieces, including a bed, sofas, chaise lounges, ottomans and chairs, owner Ed Mayorga said.

Of course, many who watched trailers for the film know by now, it all goes tumbling down in a spectacular display of firepower by a series of missile-shooting helicopters.

“Any super-hero movie, there's a theme: If you've got a super hero, there's going to be a conflict, and there's going to be destruction,” Jones said. “You just know everything you build is going to get messed up. You've gotta go in there with that mindset.”

Sure, the explosions involved computer-generated effects, but many of the details were the work of hundreds of carpenters, scenic artists, metal workers, set dressers, riggers, electricians and grip workers from North Carolina, Hook said.

“People may think that that's all just computer graphics, but actually, we built the whole interior of the house in a way that half of it was on a giant gimbal, which is a device that can tip the set,” Hook said. “When the attack happens, we actually had the set physically break apart, and half of the house could tip back and forth as needed to film that entire sequence. We also had portions of the set that were breakaway – you'll see the floor breaking out, the walls getting blown up. It was a puzzle – just a puzzle to put all those pieces together and make it work.”

After months of planning, the execution was still impressive, crews say.

“The funny thing about a lot of those types of things, by the time you get to the point that we actually do the effect, we've been working on it for so long that you're almost to the point where you're – I don't want to say jaded – but you're kind of like, ‘I've seen it, I know what's going to happen,' so the wow factor is not quite as big when it actually happens,” Hook said. “But in this case, it definitely was something to see that house tip over.”

The work behind the gravity-defying scene filmed high above the Cape Fear River in which Iron Man saves the crew of Air Force One was equally awe-inspiring.

Dubbed a “barrel full of monkeys” by crew members, according to Hoelen, the term made it into the film's dialogue.

“That was some of the best special effects I've ever worked on or seen,” he said. “It was awesome. Each department head had six or eight condors – to have one is amazing, so that was just unheard of. It's a great scene.”

‘Never the same thing twice'

“Iron Man 3” spent about $110 million in the state, including $19 million in wages for North Carolinians. The production spent about $41 million on goods and services at about 700 businesses in 84 communities, according to a report by the Motion Picture Association of America, the film industry's main trade association.

About 27 percent of labor spending went toward hiring more than 2,000 people.

About 500 of those jobs were full-time crew positions, while others included employees such as set builders and part-time background extras, who are typically paid around minimum wage, according to the N.C. Film Office.

“From a crew standpoint, I thought it was an opportunity for a lot of folks to work for months on end,” foreman Jones said. “They used a variety of materials – a lot of steel and a lot of rigging. They (Marvel crews) do plaster a little differently than we do here, so it was interesting to learn about how they approach projects.”

Many of those raw materials came from area vendors, including Bruce Watkins Supply at 1940 Dawson St. in Wilmington.

The construction retailer provided Sonotube concrete forms – typically used to create columns for buildings – that appear as smokestacks on an oil tanker you may barely catch a glimpse of in the final act of the film.

“They spent over $40,000 with us. They opened their account in January of 2012 and closed it in November,” owner Scott Harry said.

For locals and Screen Gems Executive Vice President Bill Vassar, hosting the super hero sequel was an opportunity to show what they could do.

“It was invigorating coming to work every day and a tremendous opportunity for us to achieve a new level of respect within the Hollywood production community,” Vassar said.

Crews have moved on to other productions filming in Wilmington, including the Melissa McCarthy comedy “Tammy,” which starts production this weekend, and CBS' summer series “Under the Dome,” which has been filming since February. The variety of work that comes with a vibrant local film industry is the best thing about his job, Jones said, but he won't soon forget “Iron Man 3.”

“I started with ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' 25 years ago, and I've managed to stay in the business since then. I've traveled a lot, but I've worked at home more than away,” he said. “It's a job – not unlike many others – but I would say for us it's interesting because you rarely do the same thing twice.”